An Understanding
by homocupcakes
Summary: Seto and Joey find unexpected happiness when their paths cross. SxJ. Rated T for mentions of abuse, gangs and I'm paranoid. Shounen-ai. R


ShadowPrincess96: Wooh! A oneshot!

Jade: I gotta admit it's much better than the last one.

Ryan: I liked the last one

ShadowPrincess96: Thanks but she has a point. The last one did kinda suck. Anyways, this one's a little angsty 'cause I was reading Drarry fics this morning and most of them are full of suicide and shiz. I believe it's your turn to do the disclaimer Jade.

Jade: ShadowPrincess96 doesn't own the characters in this fic. She only owns the plot, and the BlackBerry Smartphone she used to type this up.

ShadowPrincess96: Yep, it has a blue case (^_^)

Ryan: Hope you enjoy x

* * *

Joey Wheeler stood on the roof of Domino High, looking down at the schools car park.

'Not this side' he thought, 'people will see.' He took a deep breath and sauntered over to the opposite side of the roof, knowing that the ground below was a lot more secluded. Standing on his new patch of solitude he began to think about why he was up there.

* * *

It started this morning, arriving late to school, after a particularly brutal beating, followed by being kicked out, courtesy of his drunken father, he was immediately swarmed by his friends demanding an explanation as to why he was covered in cuts and bruises. He passed it off as just getting in a scuffle on the way to school and that was the end of that. Or so he thought. Not long after he sat down, Tristan leaned across the desk, "So what really happened?" He whispered.

"Nothin' man, I told you. Some morons thought they could take me on, they were wrong." He replied.

"Come on man, I **know** you're stronger than that! So tell me the truth, was it Shindou's crew?"

"What?" Whispered Joey angrily. "You know I don't hang 'round with **them** anymore!"

"But-" began Tristan.

"Look drop it alright!" Said Joey, turning to face the board. But Tristan didn't drop it, and it didn't take long for the rest of the gang to find out and confront him at break.

"Joey, is there anything you want to tell us?" said Yugi. Joey froze. 'Shit' he thought, 'do they know about my dad?' He kept a straight face however, and answered with a calm "no". Yugi looked at Tea who nodded.

"Okay Joey," she said, softly, "we gave you a chance to tell the truth, you chose not to." taking a deep breath, she turned to face Joey. "We know you've been hanging 'round with you're old gang buddies."

"What!" Yelled Joey.

"Shh Joey,". She said, looking around, "We just want to know why. What ever it is Joey you can tell us."

At this point Joey was beyond mad, he was **pissed**!

"Look! I appreciate your concern, but it has nothing to do with Shindou or his crew! It's my business so PLEASE just stay out of it!"

"Joey we're your **friends**!" Said Yugi, desperately.

"Just leave him Yugi." Said Tea, walking away, "if he doesn't want to tell us then he obviously doesn't trust us enough" she sneered, before all three of them, Yugi, Tristan, and Tea, walked away. Joey rested his elbows on the table and put his head in his hands. 'I should of just told them,' he thought, 'now I've lost three of the four people who **actually** care about me.' He could feel his eyes filling up but wouldn't let himself cry. He had nobody anymore, his friends had left him and he had no idea where Serenity was. 'I'm no use to anyone,' he thought before trudging up the stairs to the roof.

* * *

"Wheeler?" Joey was snapped out of his thoughts by the icy voice of none other than his self-proclaimed rival, Seto Kaiba.

"What are you doing up here Moneybags?" He asked, bitterly.

"Same as you I guess," he replied.

"You're not serious. Why would the rich and powerful CEO want to throw himself off of a building?"

"I could ask the same thing of you. Which brings me to my next question. Why IS happy-go-lucky, Joseph Wheeler who doesn't give a damn what anyone thinks of him, planning on killing himself. Joey turned around to tell Kaiba to get lost but stopped when he saw the look in his eyes. Was that... Concern?

'Oh well, I might as well tell him why, it's not like I'm gonna see him again,' thought Joey.

"I have nothing else to live for," he whispered.

"I find that hard to believe," said Kaiba, "you have your family, and the geek squad. I'm no expert but I'm pretty sure if you died, they'd be sad."

"Ha! Try telling them that!" Said Joey, "my sister left with my mum when I was 10 and I haven't seen them since, my dad beats me several times a day and kicked me out this morning, and my friends... Well, I'm sure you saw what happened at break."

"Yeah... What happened back then?"

Joey looked at the ground, unsure whether or not he should answer. "Joey, tell me." Joey brought his head up to look at Kaiba. As soon as their eyes met, everything else was forgotten, Honey and Sapphire clashed in a whirl of emotions.

In that instant, Joey understood, he understood, that Kaiba was up here for the same reason he was. There was nothing left. He had no parents, the only parent he DID have was most likely not the caring type, he had no friends, and Mokuba was growing up more and more by the day, becoming less and less dependant on him. That's when it hit him. This probably wasn't Kaiba's first visit up here, but if Joey had anything to say about it, it would **definitely** be his last.

Joey was pulled out of his inner thoughts by fingers intertwining with his. He looked down to find, yes, he wad holding hands with Seto Kaiba, his self-proclaimed rival... And new found friend.

"Come on Joey, we should probably head back downstairs. School will end soon."

Joey nodded and allowed Kaiba to pull him along.

"Seto?" He murmered.

"Yes?"

"Nothing, I just wanted to see how it sounded." He said, quietly.

"And what do you think?"

"...I like it."

Joey rested his head on Seto's shoulder as they walked down the stairs together.

This was probably one of the most complex relationships Domino High School would ever see. No words, just, an understanding.

**END**

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ShadowPrincess96: so there it is and please review.

Ryan: We accept all reviews, be they long, short, positive, negative, or even just to say hi

Jade: Is that all? Bye x

**Edit 01/16/11 - **I just re-read this and, it's not great. I hope you like it anyway (^_^)


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